To some degree, it might be said that when activities like prowling or stalking go just right, the result is that…

9 thoughts on “To some degree, it might be said that when activities like prowling or stalking go just right, the result is that…”

1. Wait, what? Could you clarify about that? I couldn’t understand your statement. Maybe some examples?

2. Maybe talk about what they discover about the area they are prowling, or the person they are stalking?

3. When a scoundrel does psychic battle with a ghost and overcomes it, we can easily see how cool they are. There might be some posturing and dialogue that reveals more about the character too. Same thing when a tough scraps with two other thugs in an alley in hand-to-hand combat.

   If a sneaky character does their sneaking job just right, they get to add segments to a clock, but they’re essentially avoiding a conflict. The root of my concern: How do you make sure such a character gets to show they are a badass and how do you help ensure they get their time in the spotlight?

4. Oh, I had never thought about that.

5. 😎

6. So part of the problem is there doesn’t need to be any rolls unless there’s resistance or an obstacle, basically a danger. Stalk aims to learn things about people, and Prowl is really any kind of athletic mobility, not just infiltrating without notice.

   So I think both can appear cool by adequately describing the real dangers that the player faces and bypasses. For Stalk, how bad would it be if they were spotted while tailing someone back to their bedroom? That can highlight how badass the character is because everyone who’s not good at it would be thinking “Man I’d totally get messed up if I tried that,” which equates to respect and satisfying spotlight.

   Similarly, Prowl can seem awesome by evoking the seemingly impossible danger and obstacles that the character aims to overcome. What sort of parkour does the PC employ to navigate the gantry, get to the top of the belltower then down the lofted cathedral interior? Adding plenty of noise makers: animals like dogs, cats, rats, or birds—geese in the moat or bailey are a classic medieval alarm—breakable stuff, crunchy things, noisy chains, creaky floors, silent moments (a praying congregation), noisy door hinges, furniture you have to drag to access high places, things causing the prowler to sneeze or breathe heavily, or stuff the prowler is carrying (a noisy baby, a glowing artifact, a restless spirit, crinkly parchment, rattling bones or jewelry, clanking coins), etc. Sentries covering all fields of view, only one entrance with two guards on either side of both the inside and outside of the door.

   Only by being “that good” can someone get through all those challenges unnoticed. It’s not so much “nothing happens” as “you get into where you shouldn’t be able to get, or you learn things you shouldn’t be able to get close enough to learn, given all these precautions any sensible person in Duskwall would employ.

   As an example, one of my players used Prowl to navigate the canals during a gondola chase with firearm-wielding thugs close behind and malevolent spirits in the water, bridges and clotheslines overhead, and water traffic to avoid. They ended up taking a devil’s bargain to get away from the pursuers but capsize/crash their gondola in the process and dump them into the grasping ink-water. That whole business was pretty actively badass.

   Likewise what sort of dangers would you bypass while holding your breath long enough to swim through shipwrecks and avoid Never Sea monsters or underwater hazards to access an underwater temple? 

7. I like to get specific.

   “Okay, so, at the end of that roll, you’re over here, crouched on the other side of this statue, with the patrol guard walking away.”

   “Now, you know that there’s a guard on the other side of the door right in front of you, so you’re going to need to go through the window above that door to sneak on past her, too.  So, let’s get that climbing in the mix; obviously, you’re in danger of alerting both the guard behind you and the one past the door.”

   [Mechanics]

   “All right, you’re through the little window, nobody the wiser, but you’ve torn your cloak badly enough that it’s not going to disguise your outfit if you try that.  You’re up in the rafters above the last guard.”

8. Yeah, what Adam Minnie said. If there’s an obstacle, what is it? If there’s a danger, what is it? Overcoming those things then becomes the “something happens”. Describe the thing as a dangerous obstacle.

   You did this well in our game the other night, Matthew Gagan, with the Red Sash guarding Mylera’s office.

9. I think this thread highlights the need not only for a player driven action, but a well defined danger too. This is the meat of the narrative, so spend some time nutting it out before going to the dice, jam off each other’s ideas and get excited about the player’s roll and potential clocks they have to overcome.

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